Betz Family Winery: Limited Production Leads to Award-Winning Releases

You have to really want to score a bottle of prized wine from Betz Family Winery. Sure, you can find it on the menu at Canlis, Metropolitan Grill, Daniel’s Broiler or Serafina. But if a trip to a pricey restaurant isn’t in your immediate plans, here’s a tip: Look carefully when browsing the aisles at Woodinville’s or – you might grab a bottle there.

Why the scarcity? For a clue, look to the winery’s name, as Betz is truly a down-home, family affair run from a pastoral winery on Woodinville-Redmond Road NE in Redmond, just outside Woodinville city limits. It’s easy to miss, which is the point. No signs point to the winery. You won’t spot a tasting room – there isn’t one. No wine shop, either.

Still, people find it.

“It can get crowded in the summer,” said owner Bob Betz, standing outside his winery overlooking Sammamish Valley with a view of Sammamish River. He pointed to rows of vines standing sentinel on the edge of his property, in full view of traffic. They’re bare now, but soon will bulge with Gruner Veltliner grapes from Austria, which produce white wine destined for Betz family and friends only. “People see the vines and they drive in here looking for a tasting room.”

So how do you grab the latest and best Betz wine? Although the winery does ship to a few locations nationwide, the majority of wine is sold through a mailing list that can take a year to get on. This past weekend, Betz held one of its two annual releases and was overtaken by more than 1,000 people. The prize? Two 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon releases: Père de Famille and Clos de Betz, both Bordeaux-inspired blends.

Betz, 62, has the friendly face and easy manner of a man lucky enough to earn a living at what he loves. (Heck, his dog is even on the cover of a specialty book just published called Winery Dogs of Washington). In Betz’s case, his love affair with wine has lasted 36 years. Twenty-eight of those came at Woodinville’s Chateau Ste. Michelle, where he held a number of jobs, including quality management.

Betz began his second career as vintner in 1997 while at Chateau St. Michelle, working out of a warehouse in Woodinville. After retiring from Chateau St. Michelle in 2003, he bought his current property and built the first winery from the ground up in Woodinville wine country since Chateau Ste. Michelle in 1976. He saw his first vintage at the new location in 2005.

This year marks Betz’s 15th overall vintage. To say he’s done well is an understatement. In 2007, Sunset magazine named him winemaker of the year. In 2010, Betz wine made it to several year-end best-of lists, including those compiled by The Seattle Times and Los Angeles Times. Earlier this year, Wine Enthusiast magazine singled out the winery’s 2008 Besoleil Grenache and 2008 La Cote Rousse Syrah.

The Dec. 31-Jan. 15 edition of Wine Spectator – the bible of the wine industry – praised Betz’s Syrah. Senior editor James Laube wrote that “the dazzling parade of Syrahs from Washington – and from Bob Betz in particular – continues to amaze me. I’m more convinced than ever of this wine’s potential for even greater things.”

Betz’s introduction to wine came in the 1970s when he and his wife, Cathy, traveled around France and Italy, working in vineyards while learning about the wine-making process. His study of wine culminated in 1998 when he earned a Master of Wine designation, awarded by the Institute of Masters of Wine in London. Only 12 percent of applicants pass, on average, and Betz is the only Master of Wine actually making wine in the U.S.

Betz is now creating his own winemaking legacy in woodinville wine country, surrounded by people he loves and trusts. “It’s very much family here,” he said. “My wife is the president, and I’m the winemaker.”

One of the Betzses’ daughters, Carmen, is director of sales. Recently, that meant stepping into well-worn jeans to drive around Puget Sound, making deliveries of the new reds. Add customer-service coordinator Mandy Bossard and assistant winemaker Tyson Schiffner – a former cellar master at Chateau St. Michele – and you’ve got your Betz Family Winery staff. “It’s a small operation, but very satisfying,” Betz said.

Betz Family Winery regularly sells about 3,500 cases of wine a year, a small number when considering that Betz’s former employer can move almost 2 million cases a year.  But that’s about the limit of Betz’s production. “I can still know every barrel of wine we have here,” said Betz, whose Masters of Wine thesis concerned the interaction of wine and barrels during the maturation process. The winery has two barrel rooms. Another room is stacked with cases to be shipped in the fall and features a library – Betz’s term – celebrating the best of his previous harvests. All three rooms are naturally cooled, with some supplemental cooling in summer, and are literally built underground as the land slopes up to the Betzes’ residence.

“A nice, slow aging at a cool temperature is so important,” said Betz, whose barrels are made of 100 percent French oak. “Wine aging slowly in barrels produces wine with intensity and reduces the chance of bacterial infection.” Proper storage is a big part of any wine operation, and Betz said he spends about half his time on sanitation and hygiene issues, including DNA analysis, to make sure his wine is free of contaminants.

Betz’s wine consists of two categories of red: Bordeaux (Cabernet, Merlot, Petit Verdot) and Rhone (Syrah, Grenache). Blended vintages are common, and one to be released later this year is the 2009 Besoleil, which is 67 percent Grenache, 14 percent Serah, 10 percent Mourvedre and 9 percent Cinsault.

Grapes are harvested in Washington’s Columbia Valley, in rows specifically designated for Betz only. As expected, Betz is highly complimentary of the region, touting its climate, soil and topography. “The hero of this story is the Columbia Valley,” he said. “The relationship with my growers is my highest priority. And it’s just a matter of time before we claim our place alongside California.”